Unlimited annual leave — it’s the dream, right? Going from a set number of days at your previous employer to a new company where the world is your oyster (in holiday terms) can feel exciting, liberating — and potentially a little bit scary. Will you ever get any work done? The concept of unlimited holiday leave originated in the mid-1990s within the tech industry in Silicon Valley. IBM was an early adopter, and despite often being decried as a PR, rather than HR, tool its adoption has spread glo
With nearly 84% of the world’s population now owning a smartphone, and our dependence on them growing all the time, these devices have become an attractive avenue for scammers. Last year, cyber security company Kaspersky detected nearly 3.5 million malicious attacks on mobile phone users. The spam messages we get on our phones via text message or email will often contain links to viruses, which are a type of malicious software (malware). There’s a decent chance that at some point you’ve installe
Renting an escooter is cheaper than getting a cab, requires less effort than biking, and is certainly much more convenient than a packed bus. But at the same time, the number of escooter accidents is rising — with the injury rate in some cases exceeding that of motorcycles. As a preventive measure, Cincinnati has become the third city in the US to implement a nighttime ban on escooters. Citing “pedestrian safety concerns, underage riding, and criminal activity,” the city will allow the operation
“Everyone wants free public transport, but no one wants to pay for it” is a claim I often hear writing about mobility. But an equally pressing challenge is often excluded from the conversation: equal access to public transport. It’s a challenging problem for transport providers. They have to contend with servicing the busiest routes. This is often at the expense of more disparate locations and times. And the further away you live from highly-populated inner urban areas, or need services outside
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, seems set to purchase the social media platform Twitter for around US$44 billion. He says he’s not doing it to make money (which is good, because Twitter has rarely turned a profit), but rather because, among other things, he believes in free speech. Twitter might seem an odd place to make a stand for free speech. The service has around 217 million daily users, only a fraction of the 2.8 billion who log in each day to one of the Meta family (Facebook, Instagra
Yesterday, Meta announced its second quarterly results after its major rebranding, and things were a bit more positive this time around. The company gained daily active users (1.96 billion from 1.92 billion last quarter), and posted $27.9 billion in revenue with a year-on-year growth rate of 7%. While it was the slowest growth the tech giant has ever posted, Wall Street was happy with this performance. From its earnings call, we got to learn that the company is putting in more money towards buil
Are you a would-be founder looking for the right industry to build, grow, and scale? Are you an engineer looking for a new challenge? Do the words ‘earth observation’ and ‘geospatial data’ get you going? Then SpaceTech might be the next frontier for you. In the past, space was dominated by missions run by big space players, the US, Russia, and China. But the EU has set its sights to the skies, announcing a 20% increase in the European Space Agency’s budget at the end of 2021 — the largest the ag
The lines between fiction and reality are blurry for John LePore. As a futurist and creative director who works on both movies and products, LePore not only crisscrosses these borders — he helps shape them. Much of his work has been done with Perception, a New York-based design lab. The Emmy-nominated team creates future tech for sci-fi blockbusters and real-world devices, from gadgets in Marvel films to gauges for rocket ships. The two worlds frequently inspire each other. “It’s not a one-way s
Of all the grand ideas that Elon Musk has for Twitter, the one that he’s pitched most fervently is making the platform’s algorithms open source. The Tesla tycoon proposed the plan before his buyout bid was disclosed, reiterated it the day his offer was revealed, and pitched it once again after the deal was confirmed. Musk outlined his proposal at the TED2022 conference on April 14: It’s just really important that people have both the reality and the perception that they’re able to speak freely w
Right now, agtech and new food startups are hot in terms of funding, technical innovation, product development, and ROI. Today Startup Genome, in partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Network launched the Global startup ecosystem report (GSER):Agtech and new food edition. And it’s definitely worth a deep dive. Looking for the latest trends or need to know information for your own startup or even your next investment? The GSER provides comprehensive, data-driven research on startups, with